Bio Bébé: Natural Disposable Diapers

When I was seven months pregnant and visiting family in Pittsburgh, we stumbled upon an “all-natural” store for babies. The front window was piled high with disposable diapers. It was so high, I could hardly see inside the store (it reminded me of the way they set up shops in Paris).  The pile of disposable diapers represented what one baby uses in six months. I could not believe it, as I multiplied in my mind the pile three more times until baby was 2 years or so of age, when we would be entering potty training. It is estimated that in total more than 18 billion disposable diapers are used in a year. Imagine that pile. I decided I didn’t want to do that to the environment. Once inside the shop, I went gaga over the cute patterns of the cloth diapers and had stars in my eyes envisioning our little one wearing these cute bottoms while we did our part for the planet.  

Cut to Grady at two weeks old. With a tongue-tie baby-slash-weight-gain-slash-pumping in between feeds issue, using and washing cloth diapers was the last thing on my mind, and by the time I tried to use them at five weeks it was already too late. I was hooked on the disposables. I still tried but of course every time we left the house was when the blowout of the day happened. I used them at home but when my sitter started at 10 weeks so I could accomplish an aggressive book manuscript dealing, I knew she would not use them.

Needless to say, it didn’t take long for me to give up on cloth diapers. If you are someone who has successfully made them work, I tip my hat to you. Please share with us how you do it!

One of the reasons I wanted to go the cloth route was because I didn’t want the chemicals in diapers near my brand-new baby’s bottom, so when the cloth situation tanked, I needed to find the best brand of eco-friendly and chemical-free diapers out there.

What did I find? Well, you need to watch out for dioxin and SAP when buying disposable diapers. Dioxin, a known carcinogen, is what is used to bleach material, so try to find a non-bleached option. SAP or super absorbent polymer, is impossible to avoid, since the purpose of the chemical is to make material absorb more liquid. (But SAP was banned from tampons because it was thought to be a contributing factor to toxic-shock syndrome.)

So anyway I tried every eco-friendly brand I could find in Paris. (I bought them online for delivery in Paris at www.bebe-au-naturel.com which has a wide range of natural products.)

Moltex (made in Germany)

•    100% latex-free (synthetic or natural)
•    Made from up to 50% renewable materials
•    Cellulose derived from wood pulp
•    FSC certified (international certification for companies that use sustainable & responsible forestry practices)
•    Chlorine free
•    Fragrance free

Bamboo Nature (made in Denmark)

•    Nordic Ecolabel (guarantees products are environmentally friendly)
•    ONLY company to actually list their ingredients on their website and packaging
•    No animal testing
•    Cellulose derived from wood pulp
•    FSC certified
•    Chlorine free
•    Fragrance free

Love & Green (made in France)

•    Made from 50% renewable materials
•    Cellulose derived from wood pulp
•    FSC certified
•    Chlorine free
•    Fragrance free

Tidoo (made in France)

•    Cellulose derived from wood pulp
•    FSC certified
•    Chlorine free
•    Fragrance free

NATY (made in Sweden)

•    Website claims NATY has designed an absorbent core with less SAP
•    Leakage barrier made from 100% GMO-free corn material
•    Part of the The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation
•    Made from 60% renewable materials
•    Cellulose derived from wood pulp
•    FSC certified
•    Fragrance free

I think we have a lot of options in France and when it comes to absorbency, all of the diapers did the job. (Let’s be honest, a blowout is a blowout no matter what diaper you are using!)

NATY is my favorite brand because the outside of the diaper feels the closest to fabric instead of plastic.

What diapers do you like? Do you cloth diaper? If so, we would love to talk with you for a future Bio Bebe column!  

Image by Teryn Robinson

Kristen Beddard is the founder of The Kale Project and author of Savez-Vous Manger Les Choux? (Marabout).